Dr Dorsamy (Gansen) Pillay is Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO): Research and Innovation Support and Advancement (RISA) of the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa. His thirty-year career in research, teaching, management and leadership includes academic, management and leadership positions at the former University of Durban-Westville (UD-W: now University of KwaZulu Natal) as Full Professor and Head of the Department of Microbiology, as Director of Research Management and Development at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) and as the current DCEO of the NRF. He has also spent time as Visiting Research Professor in the Department of Microbiology at Cornell University, USA; the Department of Applied Biology and Biotechnology at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia; the Department of Molecular Genetics and Cellular Microbiology at Goethe Universitat, Frankfurt, Germany; and the Department of Plant Pathology at the Scottish Crops Research Institute (SCRI) in Invergowrie, Dundee, Scotland.

Following completion of the B.Sc., B.Sc. (Hons) and M.Sc. degrees at UD-W, he obtained a post-M.Sc. qualification in Biophysics at the Weizmann Institute for Science in Rehovot, Israel, and a PhD degree in Microbiology from UD-W. He completed the International Executive Development Programme (IEDP) partnered through WITS University, South Africa; the London School of Business, UK; and the Indian Institute of Management (IIM)Bangalore, India.

His research has focused on both prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms, from human diseases (bilharzia and gonorrhea) to bacterial plant diseases (ratoon stunting disease) with particular emphasis on elucidating the molecular architecture of the causal microorganisms with a view to understanding genetic diversity, extra-chromosomal elements and developing rapid disease diagnoses. He was appointed full Professor at both DUT and UD-W and has published in excess of 60 primary research papers, including several highly cited works in peer-reviewed international journals. Scores of higher degree students up to the postdoctoral level, have been successfully supervised under his leadership.